Department of Unexpected Soccer Fans: Harrison Barnes

It's basically a requirement in NBA locker rooms these days to be conversant in soccer. Kevin Garnett loves Chelsea, LeBron James owns a piece of Liverpool, Steve Nash says he could have gone pro in the sport if he hadn't chosen to be awesome at basketball, and Kobe Bryant likes to fly to Europe to attend games and show off the fact that he speaks Italian. It seems very likely that Pau Gasol would have made an excellent goalie. Harrison Barnes, a forward for the Golden State Warriors, quit playing soccer in sixth grade, "when it became obvious that I wasn't very good." Instead, he committed himself to basketball, and that worked out pretty well for him. But Barnes never lost his love for the sport, and on Sunday, he'll fly south to Brazil to take in some games, including Team U.S.A. versus Germany on June 26 in Recife. He will report back to GQ upon his return, hopefully with tales of American glory, and in the meantime, he answered some questions.

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You watched the U.S. beat Ghana, right?I did, man. Great game. A great win.

What did you think of ourperformance?
The first 30 seconds—I mean gosh. I didn't think any team in the Cup looked better than us in those 30 seconds. After that, it got a little nerve-racking. Jozy got hurt. Some other guys got hamstring tightness. The whole team looked a little stiff and couldn't really advance the ball. Then young Johnny came in there and saved us. What a great way to finish. I was jumping and screaming like everyone else.

You played soccer, right?I don't think I was necessarily the most gifted soccer athlete, but I played a little bit. I was a striker. I hung up the cleats around sixth grade, when the gap was continuing to increase between me and kids who were actually good.

Iowa doesn't strike me as a soccer hotbed.You haven't been to Iowa, have you? It's pretty flat. I don't think it's a hotbed of soccer talent, necessarily, but a lot of people play.

Soccer is suddenly a big sport in NBA locker rooms, isn't it?No question. I think what helped it become so popular is that we have so many international players. Just on our team, we have a guy from Australia, a guy from Serbia, and one from Bosnia.

So will you also root for Bosnia?Nah, nah. I hope we kill all those teams!

What do you learn about basketball from watching soccer?The biggest thing is teamwork. For example, the Spurs just won a championship and they won by being a team. In soccer, it's more about the team, about moving together, and all parts of the puzzle working together. I was talking with a friend the other day, saying that when you play NBA 2K [the video game], if you have a superstar, you can win a game. But if you play FIFA [the video game] you can't expect to go from the goal-line, dribble the whole field, and score. You have to pass and move the ball and use everybody, and be a good team.

Most important: How are we going to do against Portugal?After seeing the way that Portugal looked in that first game, I feel pretty good about our chances. We definitely have a good shot at getting out of the group.